Giants Bring Back Mike Sullivan as Quarterbacks Coach

Mike Sullivan – © USA TODAY Sports Images

The New York Giants have announced that they have rehired Mike Sullivan as the team’s quarterback coach. Sullivan was the quarterbacks coach for the Giants from 2010-11 before he was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator in 2012. Sullivan replaces Danny Langsdorf, who joined the Giants as their new quarterback coach in January 2014, but who was just hired as offensive coordinator by the University of Nebraska.

Before Sullivan became the Giants’ quarterback coach in 2010, he served as the team’s wide receivers coach from 2004-09. Sullivan was the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay under Head Coach Greg Schiano for two years before Schiano was fired. He remained with the Buccaneers as a consultant in 2014.

“It’s great to be back,” Sullivan said. “I can’t wait to get started.”

“Mike Sullivan is a quality football coach and is an outstanding positional coach and did a great job for us as a receiver coach and as a quarterbacks coach,” Head Coach Tom Coughlin said. “He was the first thought that I had and we were fortunate in that the timing was right to get him back here. We’re very pleased to be able to bring him back home.”

Sullivan has never worked with Offensive Coordinator Ben McAdoo, who joined the Giants last January.

“I know of Ben and I know a lot of folks that speak highly of him, including some other people that I’ve worked with,” Sullivan said. “He had asked around about me and, fortunately, had heard some good things. We had a good conversation and, of course, I’m close with (wide receivers coach) Sean Ryan, (offensive line coach) Pat Flaherty and (tight ends coach) Kevin M. Gilbride. He has a comfort level with those guys and they were able to tell him what I’m about and how I work. I hit it off real well with him on the phone. He seemed like a great guy and did a heck of a job trying to change so much with a new system, new scheme and really got Eli doing a lot of good things. I’m just really excited to get back in the fold there and work with Eli.”

In the two seasons during Sullivan’s first tenure as quarterbacks coach, QB Eli Manning completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 8,935 yards, 60 touchdowns, 41 interceptions, and a passer rating of 89.2. He had career-high totals of 31 touchdown passes in 2010 and 4,933 yards the following season, when the Giants won their second Super Bowl with Manning as quarterback.

“Mike worked very well with Eli when he was the quarterbacks coach,” Coughlin said. “We all wished him well when he went off to be an offensive coordinator, but we were sorry to see him go.”

“I have a great working relationship with coach Sullivan,” Manning said. “It will be good to have him back on the staff and back in the quarterback room. When he was here, we did a great job getting the game plan together and communicating. We did good work in the offseason, so it will be good to have him back and get back to work.”

“The greatest memory was obviously the run that we had in 2011 and winning the Super Bowl,” Sullivan said, “and the type of football he played and the competitiveness and resilience and poise. It was just such a great experience and I learned a lot from him. We had a lot of great experiences, and that’s certainly something that I’ve always tried to draw upon in later years. I’m just really excited about doing everything possible to help him be the best that he can be and help us win.”

Sullivan will now have to learn McAdoo’s offensive system, which is much different than the one employed by former offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride (2007-13).

“He’ll have these next couple of months where he’ll be with the coaches and he’ll get familiar with everything,” Manning said. “Coach McAdoo is in our meetings a good bit, so we’ll all get together and he’ll have time to learn everything and get up to speed and he’ll learn it quickly and we’ll move forward.”

“Mike has been with us a long time and he’s a quality, quality person with a wonderful family, and he is versatile,” Coughlin said. “He’s a West Point grad. He’s smart. He’s disciplined. He does it all. He’s a worker. He has an outstanding work ethic and he’s a very positive guy. He’s a very positive and uplifting guy.”

• 2015-Present: Quarterbacks Coach, New York Giants
• 2014: Consultant, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• 2012-2013: Offensive Coordinator, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• 2010-2011: Quarterbacks Coach, New York Giants
• 2004-2009: Wide Receivers Coach, New York Giants
• 2003: Offensive Assistant, Jacksonville Jaguars
• 2002: Defensive Quality Control Coach, Jacksonville Jaguars
• 2001: Defensive Backs Coach, Ohio University
• 1999-2000: Defensive Backs Coach, Army
• 1997-1998: Defensive Backs Coach, Youngstown State
• 1995-1996: Outside Linebackers Coach, Army
• 1993-1994: Wide Receivers Coach, Humboldt State University